Ghost Recon: Wildlands Review

By Kue2086 on April 2, 2017

How wild is Ghost Recon: Wildlands? Strap up! We’re going into the Wildlands of Bolivia

Story

Bolivia, a few years from now: this beautiful South American country has become the largest cocaine producer in the world. The influential and vicious Santa Blanca drug cartel has turned the country into a narco-state, leading to lawlessness, fear, injustice, and violence. The cartel is on track to becoming a major underworld power and global threat.

An all-out war is not the answer. A surgical, stealthy, lethal approach is the only way to stop the disease at its source. The Ghosts, an elite US Special Forces team, are sent behind enemy lines to wreak havoc, destabilize, and eventually break the alliance between the cartel and the corrupted government.

The one thing that I have to complain about is that the story wasn’t that engaging. Sure there are files that you can read over and videos that you can play during the campaign, however, after the first few missions, you kind of forget why you’re there.

Graphics

The one thing you will notice right off the back is the gigantic map. With a map this size, you normally see developers lock parts of the map until certain objectives are met. Ghost Recon Wildlands throws out that rule book and open the entire map to explore.

The map is beautifully crafted. It really sucks you into Bolivia and lets you bask in the stunning terrain. From the rocky mountains to the gorgeous rivers, Ubisoft really took pride making sure you felt as if you were really there.

With a map this big there were most likely going to be rendering issues. When opening the map, it does take a few extra seconds to render. You can really see the game try keeping up with the player’s movement, especially when in a vehicle.

Game play

I currently have a love/hate relationship with Ghost Recon Wildlands. I know you’ve probably heard this a few times, but this shooter is best played with a few friends than with A.I. I generally have nothing against artificial intelligence, but man are they stupid.

Simply put, your A.I buddies are very good at soaking up bullets. I do give Ubisoft credit as I have seen worse A.I; they do tend to shoot the bad guys instead of firing blanks. Unfortunately, they sometimes have to be told to shoot the bad guys while pinned down in a fire fight.

Playing with a group of friends can be a bit more entertaining. Once you are able to play with a few buddies, you quickly realize that Ghost Recon was meant to be a multiplayer game. Game play may get slightly more challenging, however, I’m sure Ubisoft was taking into account that humans are smarter than the A.I provided. Sadly, they were not taking my friends into consideration.

I found the stealth play to be very good. Sync Shots were awesome to use. Stealthy take downs were quick and the recon parts of the game really fit the bill. But… when the bullets start flying, the Wildlands takes a dive.

When your cover is blown, things get a bit chaotic. Your A.I team appears to ask your permission to engage the enemy. It becomes a challenge to bring up the order wheel when the cartel has got you on the run.

Some vehicles can be hard to control. Even after a few hours of game play, jumping into a helicopter can be pretty frustrating. My vehicle of choice as been the motorcycle. I found it easy to get around the map by driving off a cliff, skipping the road altogether.

Summary

I have to admit, Tom Clancy games normally get me all gitty inside. The hype around the gameplay of Wildlands really got me pumped to play. Sadly, as I started getting deep into the game, it seemed as if I was going thru the same motions over and over again. The repetitive feel was just too hard to shake.

The A.I members posing as your team were funny at times, but I was never able to relate to any of them. You would figure riding around this huge map with a team, you would build a bond, however I would much rather let them bleed out while I complete the mission.

Despite its flaws, Ghost Recon Wildlands is still a pretty good shooter. Since most of these flaws will likely be resolved in a patch down the road, I don’t think its necessary to hold its short comings against it. Wildlands does its part to make multiplayer enjoyable again which is something a lot of current games lack.